Arrested in New York, Peter Lucido Brings Charges Against Owner of Goo Vape Business for Involuntary Manslaughter

On April 20, Peter Lucido, the Macomb County Prosecutor, arrested Noor Noel Kestou, the owner of a suburban Detroit business that experienced a fatal fire and explosion, at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as he was attempting to board a plane to Hong Kong on a one-way ticket. U.S. Customs and New York Port Authority officials detained Kestou, 31, at the airport on Saturday and brought him back to Michigan on Wednesday.

According to authorities, the tragic incident took place on March 4 in a Clinton Township building where Goo, a distributor for the vaping industry, was located. The building housed over 100,000 vape pens, and authorities revealed that a shipment of butane canisters had been delivered to the site shortly before the explosion. The blast ejected canisters up to 2 miles, and more than half of the stock remained in the building when the fire ignited. Turner Lee Salter, 19, was fatally impacted by a nitrous oxide canister that travelled a quarter of a mile due to the explosion.

During his arraignment on Thursday, Kestou was charged with involuntary manslaughter due to his ownership of Goo’s business. However, officials expressed uncertainty about Kestou’s intentions behind his attempt to flee the country for Hong Kong on April 20. Lucido emphasized that due to Kestou’s ownership of Goo’s business, he had been considered a suspect from the start. Goo had obtained an occupancy permit in September 2022 to operate as a retail location selling vape-related merchandise.

Kestou was released after paying a $500,000 bond and is now required to wear a GPS tracker as a condition of his release. A probable cause hearing is set for May 7 at Clinton Township District Court. James Thomas, Kestou’s attorney declined